Tony Khan reflects on AEW rebounding from the CM Punk backstage incidents in 2022-2023

While speaking to Jonathan Coachman and Vince Russo, AEW President Tony Khan commented on what he learned from the backstage incidents with CM Punk in 2022 and 2023…

“I came out of that wanting AEW to succeed and to continue more than anything. What we were able to do to rebound from that… obviously, I wanted, in a perfect world, everybody to be able to get together and work together. I don’t think that was possible. But I also think that, over the past few years, we’ve been able to really keep AEW strong. To me, that was the most important thing.

I learned a number of things. I probably would do some things differently or say some things differently, but like you said, it wasn’t something I was expecting. You’re very experienced in wrestling, and that was very much a “welcome to wrestling” moment in some aspects, because I had been in wrestling for almost four years at that point, but that was certainly a first for me. As with all firsts, you learn from them, and you hope not to ever have a repeat.”